Discovery, Library, and Search on BookGroup
Do I need to be signed in to see BookGroup's public library?
No. The book showcase under "Library" can be seen by anyone, without signing in — the data comes from a public area of BookGroup that doesn't require an account. If you are signed in, BookGroup only uses your registered age to adjust which books show up (content protection for minors), without requiring authentication for the rest of the browsing.
What filters are available in BookGroup's public library?
The library offers search by title or author, a privacy filter ("All", "Public", or "Private"), a content-language filter (with an "All languages" option or a specific language — this filter changes which books appear, but does not change the interface language itself), a tag filter (with multiple selection and a "Clear tags" button), and sorting by title or author in ascending or descending alphabetical order, by selected tags, or by tag in alphabetical order. You can also choose how many books appear per page. There is no fixed genre filter — the only way to categorize books is through free-form tags.
What shows up on each book in the library, and how do I see the full page?
Each book in the library shows the cover, and may display badges indicating paid access (with a lock icon), private status, an "18+" rating, or a pending tag association. On larger screens, hovering over a book reveals quick actions — "Finished", "Reading", "Want to read", and "View groups" — along with the title and author. Books you're currently reading show a thin progress bar. To open the book's full page, with synopsis and more details, just tap or click the book.
What happens after I upload an EPUB to BookGroup for processing?
After uploading, BookGroup shows "File uploaded successfully" and then "Processing file...", while it prepares the book for reading. During this time, the book appears in your personal library in a processing section, but it can't be opened yet — it only becomes clickable once processing finishes. If something goes wrong, BookGroup shows that processing failed.
How do I know when my EPUB has finished processing on BookGroup?
BookGroup sends a notification letting you know your book's processing is complete (or that it failed, if that's the case). On success notifications, a "View library" button appears, taking you to the book showcase; from there, the processed book already shows up available in your personal library, ready to open and read.
What can I search for on BookGroup, and how does search work?
On the search screen, you can look for users, groups, books, and tags — those are the four available categories, plus the option to see all results together. Type what you're looking for in the search field; the search starts automatically as you type, with no need to confirm. Once you've typed something, buttons appear to filter the results down to just users, just groups, just books, or just tags. Each result shows information relevant to its type — for example, the number of members for a group, or the author's name for a book — and takes you straight to that item's page when tapped.
What shows up when a BookGroup search finds nothing?
If you haven't typed anything yet, BookGroup invites you to "Search for anything", reminding you that you can look for users, groups, books, and tags. If you've already typed something and got no result, BookGroup shows "No results found", suggesting you try different words, remove some filters, or explore the library directly — with a button that takes you there, and another to clear the applied filters.
What shows up in BookGroup's activity feed, and where do those posts come from?
The activity feed shows discussion messages from other people in the reading groups you already belong to — including comments and annotations other members have shared about passages in the books. The feed doesn't show content from groups you don't belong to; it's a view of what's already happening in your own groups, not a discovery of new content from outside them. If there's nothing there yet, BookGroup shows "Your story starts here", inviting you to explore the library or join a reading group.
How do I react to a post in BookGroup's activity feed?
Every post in the feed has a "React" button, which opens the available reaction options (a set of "sentiments" configured by BookGroup, not a simple "like"). You can only have one active reaction per post: choosing another one replaces the previous one, and tapping the same reaction again removes it. To comment on the book passage related to a post, use the "Go to context" button, which takes you straight to that exact point of the book in the reader — there's no comment field inside the feed card itself.
What are tags in BookGroup's general catalog, and how do its three tabs work?
The "Tags" screen brings together every public tag on the platform, organized into three tabs: "My tags" (the tags you created yourself), "Highlights" (recently created tags), and "Alphabetical" (browsing by letter, A to Z). Each tag shows how many books are associated with it. At the top of the page, you can create a new tag by typing a name and confirming.
How do I manage the tags I created on BookGroup?
On the "My tags" tab, you see only the tags you created yourself, along with the books associated with each one, grouped by status: pending, approved, rejected, and removed. For pending associations — usually when someone else associates a book with your tag — you can approve or decline them. Already-approved associations can have their approval removed, and rejected or removed associations can be approved again later. If a tag doesn't have any associated books yet, BookGroup makes that clear.
What do I see when I open a specific tag's page on BookGroup?
A tag's page shows the library filtered to just the books associated with it (and already approved), in the same card format used in the general showcase, following the same privacy and age-rating rules. If no books are associated yet, BookGroup shows "No books associated with this tag." A "Back" button takes you back to the general tag catalog.